Pro-Palestinian activists sprayed the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing with red paint this morning (02/11), over their links to companies with ties to Israel.

The group targeted the front of the building, claiming that the Institute was a “centre of complicity” and that they had painted “blood on the institution’s walls for blood on the institution’s hands”.

Palestine Action, the group responsible, targeted the Institute for Manufacturing due to research partnerships with companies associated with arms manufacture, including BAE systems, Siemens, and Rolls Royce, who they referred to as “institutes of death”.

BAE systems, Siemens and Rolls Royce are all companies on the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) Movement list, which urges individuals to cut ties with companies associated with the war in Gaza.

PalAction alleges that these companies aid in the manufacture of arms that are “used in the murder of Palestinians”.

Among the companies criticised was Siemens, who recently had their Cambridge office targeted by protest group This is Not a Drill. The group claimed that Siemens provides “technological infrastructure” to Israel, saying that they targeted the company “because they are on the official BDS list”.

BDS claims that the interconnector would “contribute to the maintenance and expansion of Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise” by transmitting energy through the occupied West Bank, citing a report by the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council.

PalAction had previously targeted Cambridge over their “complicity in genocide” when they sprayed the Senate House building red in June over partnerships with arms companies that are that are enabling “Palestinian genocide”.

This action also came on the 107th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 announcing its support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

PalAction have previously criticised Cambridge’s historic links to the Balfour Declaration, after they damaged a painting of its author, Lord Balfour, displayed in Trinity College earlier this year.

Following this protest, PalAction stated that Lord Balfour “gave away the Palestinians’ homeland – a land that wasn’t his to give away”.

The ongoing pressure on the University to cut ties with companies associated with Israel comes after the University agreed to review their investments in arms with a student-led task force, following months of protests from student group Cambridge for Palestine. The review is set to conclude by the end of Michaelmas term.

A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge told Varsity: “We strongly condemn this act of vandalism. The police have been informed.”

A spokesperson for Rolls-Royce said: “Rolls-Royce supports the UK Government and its allies in providing power solutions for defence purposes. In doing so, we abide by all applicable export control and sanctions laws. In the UK, those regulations demand that exports are considered against a range of criteria, including relevant international law.”

A Siemens spokesperson told Varsity: “We are deeply concerned about the humanitarian devastation for civilians in the region and we support any action to avoid further escalation. In the strongest possible terms, we fundamentally reject any violence against innocent people and civilians.”

They added: “Our deepest sympathy goes out to all those who have suffered casualties and injuries. We’re monitoring the situation in the region very closely and provide support to our people and their families.”

BAE Systems have been contacted for comment.